Film Review – Arkansas

About a decade ago, actor Clark Duke started making the rounds as a supporting player in comedies. He was quick with a quip, approachably nerdly, and confident in his one and only hairstyle, making an impression in pictures such as “Kick-Ass,” “Hot Tub Time Machine,” and, well, “Kick-Ass 2” and “Hot Tub Time Machine 2.” Duke couldn’t sustain his demand or find work that really tested him as a performer, but now he’s returned with “Arkansas,” a movie he’s co-written and directed, also taking a supporting part that has him looking a bit different than before. With a newfound drive to tell stories instead of simply participate in them, Duke goes to a familiar place with “Arkansas,” which is a tale of backwoods crime, with a community of toxic types populating the narrative. Outside of Duke’s professional graduation, there’s nothing memorable about the feature, which has a to-do list of cliches it slowly checks off, ending up a bland offering of lowlife survival. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com